


Double Shots

by kiyala



Category: Gyakuten Saiban | Ace Attorney
Genre: Alternate Universe, Kink Meme, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-08-06
Updated: 2008-08-06
Packaged: 2017-10-12 02:27:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/119779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiyala/pseuds/kiyala
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Miles Edgeworth, a defense attorney, gets his morning coffee from same café every morning. One day, he begins to notice that Phoenix, the barista, has extremely nice hands.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Double Shots

  
When he noticed them for the first time, he wondered how he could have missed them during the countless visits he made here in the past.

Phoenix was the best barista in the coffee shop. Aside from the actual manager, he had been there the longest. He had a knack for remembering people's names and their orders, already half-way through making their coffee before they'd even reached the counter. And despite the fact that it was a slightly more expensive place, frequented only by those who had money to burn, Phoenix was always easily casual with the customers.

"'Morning, Miles!" Phoenix greeted, addressing him by first name despite the several times that he'd been told to call him _Edgeworth_ , like everyone else did.

"Good morning, Phoenix," Miles replied, handing his change over while the other man began making his long black. It was then, that he noticed. Phoenix's large hands, surprisingly soft against his for a fleeting moment as he accepted the change. He watched them as Phoenix operated the espresso machine, finally tearing his eyes away from them and speaking, hoping that conversation would keep him from staring. "How was your weekend?"

"Not bad. Had an audition on Saturday. They said they might call me back but… I'm not counting on it."

At that point, Phoenix ran a hand through his hair, and Miles' attention was captured once again by the other's hands.

"I'm sure you'll get your break someday. Just keep at it. I'm looking forward to seeing you in a Hollywood film."

"Thanks." Phoenix grinned at him, which Miles only caught because he was trying to pretend that he wasn't staring at his hands. "Do you have a trial today?"

Miles nodded. "I have enough evidence to show that my defendant didn't commit the murder. It should be straight-forward enough."

Giving him another smile, Phoenix pushed the coffee cup towards him. "Well, there you go. Good luck in court. I'm sure you'll do great, as always."

The defense attorney left, feeling rather light-headed. Phoenix watched him for a few seconds as he walked out of the shop before turning his attention to his next customer and greeting them with a smile.

The next day, Miles Edgeworth did something unusual. When paying for his coffee, he did not pay in exact change. It was something that Phoenix would have just shrugged off, had it been any other customer. But for the three years that he had been making Miles' early-morning coffee, the man had always paid him in exact change. He raised an eyebrow, but Miles did not see, staring at some point around the counter instead.

Miles held his breath as their hands met for the second time when Phoenix gave him the necessary change. He followed the other's hands, to the stack of empty coffee cups, to the espresso machine, to the lid. He looked up when Phoenix placed the cup in front of him, his eyes widening when he noticed the questioning look in the blue eyes. He regretted having not made the usual small talk as he waited for his coffee, knowing that it would be an entire day until the next time he had the opportunity to do so.

"Thanks. I'll see you tomorrow," he said quickly, taking his cup and leaving. Phoenix watched with a small frown.

Miles no longer paid in exact change. He sounded distracted when they spoke, and hardly made eye contact with Phoenix until the very moment before he left. It bothered Phoenix to begin with, as he failed to come up with a reason behind it. He was sure that he hadn't done anything out of the ordinary to cause his favourite customer (because even if he knew it was stupid to have a _favourite customer_ and had only told one co-worker, that's what Miles was) to suddenly act differently. He missed the usual conversation they had, which had been engaging and fun, regardless of how short it had to be. He didn't like the fact that Miles hardly looked directly at him (he had a thing for those grey eyes. He loved how expressive they could be when they spoke) and he didn't like the way Miles quickly left with his coffee, his shoulders slumped as though he were ashamed of something.

And then one morning, as Miles walked into the shop and joined the queue, it dawned on Phoenix. He had no idea what had made him think of it so suddenly, and he had no idea why it had taken him so long, but he quickly formed a plan as he served the customers before Miles.

"'Morning, Miles," he greeted as usual.

"Good morning, Phoenix." He already sounded distracted.

Phoenix watched the other man's face carefully as he took the coins. Fifty cents over. He watched as he opened the cash register, put the coins in and took a few coins out. He was still watching as he handed the change back to the other man.

Miles' eyes hadn't left his hands the entire time.

"So how was yesterday's trial?" he asked casually, reaching over to the stack of coffee cups.

"Hm, fine," Miles replied distractedly, following Phoenix's hand.

Phoenix reached for another cup. And another. Miles' eyes followed from the stack, to the counter where the cup was put down and then back to the stack, far too occupied watching the other man's hand to notice anything out of the ordinary.

Phoenix grinned, satisfied that he'd gotten the reaction he'd expected. He continued to make the coffee, occasionally making exaggerated movements with his hands for the sole purpose of watching Miles' eyes follow them.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he said with a grin as he placed the cup on the counter.

Miles reached forward, their fingers brushing as he picked it up. Phoenix's eyes widened. Had their fingers always done that? He couldn't remember, but his fingertips did not stop tingling for the entire morning.

"'Morning, Miles!" he greeted the same way he did every other morning. But unlike every other morning, he felt his pulse race as their eyes met. It lasted for the same, short span of time it always did and Miles returned the greeting.

"How are you today?" he asked, deciding that he was going to get a proper conversation out of the other man this morning. "Any cases?"

To his surprise, Miles gave him a proper answer. "The day looks good so far, and I'm hoping it will stay that way. I've just got paperwork to do today, so I'll definitely be needing this coffee. It's irritating, how long it takes just to file a few…"

He trailed off as Phoenix ran a hand through his hair. He had, as usual, been following Phoenix's hands. He'd watched him lift the hand as it made its way to his hair. And then he'd met Phoenix's eyes.

Phoenix smiled at him and Miles' face suddenly felt warmer. Torn between watching his hands or maintaining the eye contact, he tried to continue speaking, "S-so as I said… I'll be spending my day sorting through hands—I mean eyes. _Files_."

Much to his chagrin, Phoenix's smile widened. He turned to the espresso machine, occasionally glancing in Miles' direction.

"If you're bored during the day, you should come here for more coffee. And perhaps some conversation, if you don't mind putting up with me twice in one day."

Their fingers brushed as Phoenix gave him the coffee cup. The contact lasted a little longer this time because Phoenix didn't withdraw his hand the way he usually did. The faint blush returned to Miles' face.

"I might, Phoenix. I'll see you later."

"See you," Phoenix murmured, watching his favourite customer walk out of the store.

"You two are cute, did you know that?" his next customer asked, leaning over the counter with an amused look.

He grinned, shaking his head at the teenage girl. "Mind your own business, Ema."

Miles did, in fact, visit the coffee shop later in the day. It was not long after lunch and the place was far emptier than it was in the morning. Phoenix looked up as soon as he walked through the door and grinned.

"So you did come."

"I've made myself five cups of tea, hoping that they would make me concentrate again. They haven't."

"This is why you need espresso," Phoenix said, looking amused as he began making the other man's coffee.

Now that there were less people in the shop, Miles felt less reserved when he watched Phoenix. His gaze travelled from the other's face, down to his hands and back up again. Phoenix had to use all of his self control to stop himself from grinning, enjoying the attention far too much to let on how blatant it was in fear that it would stop.

"Let's see if this helps your attention span," Phoenix said, placing the cup on the counter.

"Thank you. I'll see you tomorrow."

Before Phoenix could stop himself and actually think, his hand reached out, grabbing Miles' wrist. "Stay."

They stared at each other in shock and Phoenix quickly let go. "I-I meant to say… well, you could stay here while you had your coffee. For a break from your paperwork, if you wanted…"

"Hey, Nick!" his co-worker, Maya, joined him at the counter and looked at Miles. "Is this guy that 'favourite customer' you're always talking about? The Miles Edge-something guy, right? Is that him?"

Phoenix's face flushed in embarrassment, unable to look away from Miles, who had a surprised and somewhat curious expression on his face.

"Favourite customer?" Miles asked, his eyebrows raised.

"Yeah! Oh man, you should hear the way Nick goes on about your— _oww_!"

"Maya," Phoenix said with a frown, "I think I see a table that needs cleaning."

"You _kicked_ —"

"Maya. Table. Clean it."

Grumbling, she grabbed a cloth and walked away. Phoenix glanced in Miles' direction, and the defense attorney caught his eye, not allowing him to look away. They stared at each other, trying to think of what to say. Phoenix was sure that Maya was standing at the table watching them, but he couldn't look away to tell her off.

Miles finally cleared his throat, "Perhaps I'd better get back to my office. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye," Phoenix said quietly, watching the other man leave, in a daze.

He alternated between looking forward to and dreading the next morning. Miles smiled at him as he entered the shop and Phoenix smiled back, already looking forward to when he reached the counter.

Neither of them spoke, greeting each other with small smiles as their eyes met. Miles paid for his coffee and their fingers brushed against each other far more than necessary. They didn't look away from each other, save for the times Phoenix had to pay attention to the coffee he was making.

"I'll see you later," Miles murmured as their hands met again around his coffee cup.

Phoenix grinned, "See you."

He was back in the afternoon, around the same time as the previous day. Phoenix was wiping some tables down when Miles entered the shop, and almost turned a chair over as he straightened up. Maya, who was also on shift again, squeaked in glee when she saw Miles.

"I'll make your coffee," Phoenix said, going behind the counter. Maya opted to stay back and watch in amusement, and was quickly forgotten about.

Miles watched Phoenix's hands as they worked the espresso machine, pouring the milk into the cup and putting the lid on. His eyes then flicked up to find the other's blue eyes already watching him. He felt his face flush, wishing that he could remember what he had wanted to say. It was nothing important; just a casual remark that would begin a small conversation if he was lucky. He'd repeated it in his head as he walked from his office to the coffee shop, but under the other man's gaze, he couldn't remember it.

He opened his mouth and shut it again when he couldn't think of anything to say. It made Phoenix smile, which made his mind blank even more .

"ThinkI'llsithere," he said quickly and to his surprise, Phoenix understood.

"The seats by the window aren't bad," Phoenix said, looking out of the large windows on either side of the entrance. "I mean… you can look outside, and it's… dynamic. Probably better than staring at walls. If you get bored, you can people-watch."

Miles turned to him hesitantly. "I…I'd rather be looking at…someone else."

It was Phoenix's turn to blush. He only then realised that this was the closest he'd stood to the other man. Instead of the counter putting considerable distance between them, there were in less than an arm's reach of each other. It meant that he could see Miles' eyes better than before and he held back the clichéd compliment about his eyes, opting to admire them in silence.

Miles unconsciously bit his lip, feeling awkward under the attention. His teeth gently ran over his lower lip and it drew Phoenix's attention to the other's lips instead.

That moment, the phone behind the counter rang. They quickly stepped away from each other, and Maya loudly announced that she'd get it. The two of them looked even more embarrassed as they remembered that she had been there.

"Nick! It's for you!" she called, her hand over the receiver, "I think it's the audition people!"

Phoenix looked up at that. He glanced at Miles, who cleared his throat.

"Perhaps I should go."

Phoenix looked as thought he was about to protest, but shut his mouth and nodded with an apologetic smile.

"See you tomorrow."

"See you later," Phoenix murmured, before taking the phone out of Maya's hand.

  
Half an hour later, with the encouragement of Maya, Phoenix was walking down the street from the coffee shop to Edgeworth & Co. Law Offices. It was a three minute walk; he passed it every morning on his way to work from the train station. He walked fast, seeing if he could make it in less time so that the two coffees he was carrying would still be warm.

The first room he entered when he walked up the stairs was empty. He frowned in confusion before noticing that there was another door with a sign that told him it was Miles Edgeworth's office. He walked closer, took a deep breath and knocked.

"Yes?" It was Miles' voice. Phoenix exhaled, feeling a little braver.

"Miles."

Within two seconds, the door was open. Miles stood there, wide-eyed and – Phoenix was glad to notice – a little pleased.

"H-hello. I didn't know you were dropping by. Is… something wrong?"

Phoenix smiled, shaking his head. "Nothing's wrong. I'm on break, and you never got to sit at the shop and have your coffee… and I thought you might like another."

Only just noticing the coffee cups, Miles took one. "Thank you. You do realise, however, that if I don't get to sleep tonight, I'll be blaming you?"

Phoenix grinned, "Of course. Blame the coffee guy. What do you think it's like for me?"

Smiling, Miles took a step backwards so the other man could enter his office. "Would you like to sit?"

He led Phoenix to his chair and the dark-haired man sighed happily. "Wow, this is comfortable."

Miles leaned against the table, sipping on his coffee. Suddenly remembering, he turned to Phoenix. "Did you get good news about your audition?"

Phoenix grinned, "They're calling me back for a second audition. I have a good feeling about this. Like I'm finally getting somewhere."

"I'm glad to hear it. Congratulations."

"…You know," the dark-haired man said, looking thoughtful, "If I got the part, I'd have to take a break from the coffee shop. I won't get to make your coffee in the mornings."

Miles frowned a little. "Who would I get my coffee from, then?"

"Mia?" Phoenix shrugged, "Maya, if she ever woke early enough to work a morning shift—"

"I don't want to drink others' coffee, Phoenix. It wouldn't be good enough. You make the best coffee I've tasted."

Smiling at the compliment, Phoenix shook his head, "You've been drinking my coffee for three years, how would you know? You might find somewhere else—"

"I know," Miles cut him off, his frown deepening.

Phoenix looked up at him, his eyes wide. Miles was leaning over him, his breathing the slightest bit heavier than normal. The next step came to him without even having to think. Taking hold of the tie that hung from the other man's neck, he pulled him closer. Miles willingly lowered his head, meeting Phoenix's lips in a kiss.

They parted for a brief moment, eyes meeting for a brief moment before Phoenix held onto Miles' sides and brought him down to sit in his lap.

"I've wanted to do that," he murmured as he kissed Miles again and again, "Since I first noticed the way you look at my hands."

"Was it obvious?"

"Very," Phoenix breathed, bringing his hands up to hold the sides of the other man's face. "I love it."

Turning his face to the side, Miles kissed the middle of one of the other's palms. He brought his own hand up to hold onto Phoenix's wrist, kissing it again, up the long fingers, brushing his lips over the fingertips. He heard Phoenix let out a shaky breath and kissed him on the lips once again. Their lips parted, their tongues met and when Miles pulled away, he felt light-headed.

"How long is your break for?" he quietly asked against the other man's lips.

"Not long enough to do half the things I want to do to you," Phoenix murmured in response. Miles groaned softly.

"We can continue after work," he suggested, "When do you finish?"

"Five," Phoenix replied. "You?"

"The same. Come here after you're done. I'll take you home."

"Yours or mine?" Phoenix asked, grinning.

Miles returned the grin and kissed him again. "That's up to you."

x


End file.
